Anime: Bringing Up Utena

I realized that when I went and wrote that post earlier mentioning Utena, that I don’t give the series enough credit. Utena means a lot to me, and the series (anime, manga, and movie) continues to drive and inspire me, usually in those clever little subversive ways that I don’t even think about. (I need a word with more positive connotations than subversive: I’m used to “TVtropes subversive,” which is awesome rather than ruinous.)

I’ve already talked a little bit about how I was introduced to the show, and anyone who’s poked around my Deviant Art gallery can see what my estimate of overall influence of, and the position that Utena fills on my meme-tastic Influence Chart. (Right up there in the top-right corner. Admittedly, I don’t think I have anything on that chart from before about 2002-2003, even though I created it recently. Was there a cut-off date? lol)

Utena is one of several characters who influence Elysia, from my comic Rumors of War, and I’m more than happy to acknowledge the influence. Strong, full of energy (elan vital), stubborn, reckless, confident, bored, and untested. The story itself is somewhere between a fairy tale and a melodrama, and it sits between the two and takes generous handfuls of both. It has an appeal on a visceral level, and an appeal on a more philosophical level.

edit: I stopped just short of calling the show transcendental. I think I was moving in that direction, and I didn’t mean to. The show was enlightening to me and I love to share it with others, but I doubt it’ll change anyone’s life like it did for me. I love to think about and reference it, but a show is just a show: you take away from it only what you put into it.